“I think this past weekend was the best so far since I finished both races without problems,” Ostella said upon his return to Canada. “The track was a very fast one, and I figured out how to reach the ultimate pace more quickly, but I still have to get better at it going forward. I’ve just got to put it all together!”
The data once again supports his words as Ostella produced times of 59.839 seconds and 59.374 seconds in back-to-back qualifying sessions on Friday, improving by very nearly a half-second. Returning to the track early Saturday morning for race eight of the Championship, the teenager from Maple, Ontario, then had a quick time of 58.560 seconds on his way to running from eighth on the grid to sixth, eight-tenths better than his qualifying pace. “In the race I had a good start, lost one position on the second lap but then incidents happened on the track and I ended up sixth,” he said. “I was the fifth fastest car, which was encouraging.”
In the second start Saturday Ostella had truly found the zone as he turned the second quickest lap in the field and climbed all the way to fifth from tenth on the grid. “Off the start I gained one position and then we had a red flag when a driver hit the wall,” he said of race nine of the Championship. “At the same time a driver drove off and I was able to take seventh, and on the restart I stayed in my position until another driver had an off to give me sixth. I passed my teammate for fifth-place, and was still gaining time until the checker came out.”
Gaining time indeed. Racing in a three-pack for positions second through fourth, Ricardo Favoretto and Mikael Grenier were the quickest pair and set personal best laps on lap 21 at 58.70 seconds. Ostella set his best time on the same tour, a 58.38 second lap! It was a consistent pattern, with the young racer nearly reaching Grenier’s rear wing when the checkered flag waved. The checker also brought to a close the first half of the season, and overall Ostella says he is having the time of his life.
“I am having the greatest time in the world racing cars, Montreal was just incredible,” he said in summing up the first half events. “Overall though, the first half wasn’t as good as I would have liked, but I’m taking it all as a learning experience and staying positive about everything involved with the racing. I’ve got a great support team, a great race team, and just can’t wait to get back at it in the second half of the season.”
Next up for the Formula BMW Americas Championship is an official test session at Putnam Park before all head to famed Road America for three races early in August. David will once again be racing with support from Global Precast Motorsports, Alpinestars, and RAW Integrated Ltd. For more information visit www.davidostella.com
From Jason Holland
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